RUMFORD — A Peru man was injured Friday afternoon when his motorcycle hit a guardrail on Route 2, throwing him down an embankment next to the Androscoggin River. The brakes on the motorcycle failed, police Sgt. Douglas Mailfeld said.

Jonathan Nisbet, 33, was flown from Rumford Hospital to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maifeld said.

Nisbet was pulling out of a driveway in Rumford Center on a 2003 Harley-Davidson Sportster and was unable to stop, the sergeant said.

“He really wasn’t traveling too fast,” Maifeld said. “He couldn’t have driven more than 20 feet, but upon investigating, we discovered that there were no brakes on that motorcycle.

“We’re not sure if he was just moving it or what, but he was unable to stop the motorcycle and was flung over the embankment. He ended up landing pretty far down the embankment, near the river runoff at the bottom,” the officer said.

Maifeld said he was unsure of the exact injuries, but he heard that he likely broke “one or both of his legs.”

The motorcycle was damaged, but repairable, Maifeld added.

Rumford Fire and Police departments, Med-Care Ambulance and Maine State Police responded to the scene.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com